


your heart gently

by mywordsflyup



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Camping, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Protectiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-01 21:57:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6537748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mywordsflyup/pseuds/mywordsflyup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aloth is exhausted. Edér worries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	your heart gently

They make camp early in the basement of some ruins where the only thing stronger than the smell of rot is the cold that starts creeping through the layers of Aloth’s clothing as soon as he sits down. Sunlight still falls through the cracks in the ceiling but Hiravias has sprained his wrist during an ill-advised jump across a stream and the Watcher fusses. Because that’s just what the Watcher does.

 

Aloth keeps well away from the damp stone walls. He doesn’t need to add slimy green moss to the manifold stains of ominous origin on his cloak. Some of it is certainly blood. Traces of dank spores as well. He chooses not to think about the rest.

 

Edér builds the fire like he does every night and Aloth makes an effort not to watch him. There’s a time and place to marvel at the way the muscles move under the freckled skin of his arms. Or wonder how his hair can still look this soft and golden at the end of what can only be described as a torturous march through hell. There’s a time and place for that. But this isn’t it.

 

At the other end of the room, the Watcher gently turns Hiravias’ hand. Aloth can see his one ear twitch nervously at the touch and he can’t blame him for it. Kana leans over them both, assessing the injury and says something in his low rumble of a voice that Aloth can’t quite make out. Whatever it was, it makes the Watcher smile. The flash of teeth seems too much, somehow, and Aloth averts his gaze, fixing it instead on his own hands in his lap. He didn’t even notice he was balling them into fists, his short nails digging into his palms with enough force to leave bright red half moons when he finally forces himself to relax.

 

“You alright there?”

 

It shouldn’t make him jump like that, as if he hasn’t expected Edér to come and check on him. Another thing he does every night. Aloth looks up and watches Edér wipe his hands on the fabric of his already dirty trousers.

 

“I’m fine.” Aloth curls and uncurls his fingers.

 

For a moment, he thinks Edér’s going to touch him, like he does sometimes. Just a friendly clap on the shoulder. Or a steadying hand on the small of his back. Or, just that one time, a brush of fingers against the nape of his neck. But if Edér had any intention of doing so, he thinks better of it and settles down next to him instead, keeping a respectable distance between them.

 

“You sure about that?” Edér pulls his pack towards him and opens it. “I haven’t seen you this tense since… you know.” He taps his finger against his temple and Aloth finds himself mirroring the gesture.

 

“Ah,” he says and his hand drops back into his lap. The sanatorium.

 

There were marks afterwards. On his temples, forehead and wrists - from the copper bands the animancer at the sanatorium used on him. Just tiny bruises but Edér still looked at them with furrowed brow and clicked his tongue in the way he usually does when faced with a particularly stubborn problem. That night he went out and bought some strange-smelling poultice at the market and applied it to the irritated skin around Aloth’s wrists and at his temples himself.

 

“I’m fine,” Aloth says again but this time he wills his voice to be softer, less icy, and when Edér doesn’t saying anything, he dares to look up. “Just tired.” And when Edér continues to look unconvinced, he adds, “Fighting your way through ancient ruins for two days without hardly any rest are known to have that effect on most people.”  

 

There’s just the slightest twitch at the corner of Edér’s mouth before he makes a contemplative noise and pulls some food out of his pack - apples and some pieces of hard, stale bread. “I thought it might be because of…”

 

There’s no need for gesturing this time. Aloth feels heat rising in his cheeks and decides to stare at his hands again. “No,” he says and keeps his eyes on a particularly strange-looking stain. “Not at all.”

 

Edér makes a noise that could well be a laugh but Aloth can’t quite tell without looking at him. But from the corner of his eye, he sees him shift a little bit. “Well,” he says and clears his throat. “That’s good to know, of course. Wasn’t sure there for a moment. With you avoiding me and all that.”

 

That finally makes Aloth look up, his brow furrowed. “I don’t regret it, if that’s what you mean.”

 

“Oh.” Edér blinks, obviously surprised by Aloth’s tone.

 

He should probably lower his voice. But then again, none of the others seem to pay them any attention. “You asked me if you could kiss me and I said yes.” He almost stumbles over the word, certain that his face must be fully red by now. “I don’t make decisions like that lightly, you know.”

 

There’s another twitch at the corner of Edér’s mouth before it turns into a full smile. “No, you don’t.”

 

Something in the way he says it makes Aloth’s chest feel tight, but in a good way. A little bit like one of Kana’s hugs. He isn’t sure what to say, not when he can’t be certain his voice won’t break as soon as he opens his mouth.

 

Edér pulls out his knife and starts cutting into one of the apples. Far from the others and with words spoken between them already, it’s seem alright to Aloth to watch him. The hands holding the knife and apple are strong and calloused and the fact that Aloth knows what they feel like cradling the side of his face, makes his heart beat as fast as a bird’s.

 

“Could you do me a favor then?” Edér asks suddenly and Aloth startles like he’s caught him doing something much more embarrassing than daydreaming about his hands. He can feel Iselmyr stir somewhere in the back of his mind. But he’s only in danger of making a fool of himself. Nothing they haven’t seen before.

 

“Yes?”

 

With another warm smile, Edér holds up an apple slice - carefully, like he’s offering him a precious gem instead of a piece of fruit. “Eat something.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“I’m pretty sure you haven’t eaten all day.”

 

Aloth’s eyes flick from Edér’s face to the apple and back. “I don’t think -”

 

“Am I wrong?”

 

Some stubborn part of him wants to lie. But for once, the twinge in his stomach has nothing to do with Edér’s smile and everything with the stupid apple in his hand. He takes the offered slice and tries not to pout like a child, despite the way Edér’s smile grows wider with every bite he sees Aloth take. There's a time and place for that. This definitely isn't it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Axel Flóvent's "Forest Fires". 
> 
> You can also follow my [tumblr](http://damnable-rogue.tumblr.com) if you're interested.


End file.
